Time: 10:00, Oct. 26, 2016

Venue: Conference Room on the 8th Floor, No. 1 Laboratory Building

Speaker: Dr. Anthony Bishopp The University of Nottingham 

Title: Experimental and theoretical approaches to understanding how auxin and cytokinin interact to control root vascular patterning 

Introduction to the Speaker: 

Anthony's research addresses two main themes: how pattern is specified within vascular tissues and how hormonal signalling pathways integrate to regulate plant development. Current research themes include:

　　？generating mathematical models of vascular patterning and auxin distribution in roots

　　？understanding how vascular pattern is set de-novo in newly emerging roots

　　？identifying new mechanisms through which the hormones auxin and cytokinin interact

　　？understanding the mechanism that provides specificity in auxin response

Introduction to the Lecture:

A central question in developmental biology is how multicellular organisms are a patterned, so that a seemingly homogenous initial population of cells can give rise to the complex patterns of differentiated cells observed. We use the patterning of root vascular tissues (xylem and phloem) as a model for pattern formation in plants. The xylem and phloem form a vital transport network and it is essential that these cells differentiate in the correct position to form a single continuous network connecting organs.

This process is controlled by the asymmetric distribution of the hormones auxin and cytokinin and the mutually inhibitory interaction between them. High auxin response in the central axis promotes xylem formation, whereas high cytokinin response flanking this promotes procambium/phloem cell identity. The two pathways interact via the auxin induced cytokinin signalling inhibitor AHP6, and via cytokinin-mediated control of PIN expression/localization. In this talk, both experimental and theoretical approaches will be taken to understand how these two hormones interact to determine pattern in both Arabidopsis and rice roots.